"I'm not sure I understand the question," Hector said.

"Surely you've noticed that Volithur was a bit of an idiot. Not only did he get himself killed, he also ignored every bit of advice about not letting his apertures lag behind his soul level. With his insight, he could have rivaled the emperor of Zing one day. Instead he languished in the tower of the Lord Platinum before being sacrificed to the Dream Engine. So what do you consider the one thing that, done differently, would have given him an improved outcome?"

Hearing this man speak so casually of Volithur's life felt so strange to Hector. It still seemed unfair that someone else held those precious memories. Hector grimaced. "There were a lot of mistakes in that life. I'm not sure I could limit myself to just one."

Matthias nodded. "Perhaps I could share my observation? Obviously we could change nothing before he received the insight on the day of his wedding. A man I met on another world will argue for hours that the first mistake was revealing his insight to the fifth household. He thinks the best path was to wait until the wards were released from service, then abandon his old life to pursue power on his own terms.

"Myself, I am quite partial to the ability to travel between worlds. So I prefer Volithur making it to Tian where he trains his transit sphere under Master Zara. Then, when he graduates from his apprenticeship, Volithur could stockpile shelf stable consumables for his family on an unempowered world. Rice, beans, sugar, salt, spices. As much as he can move in secret. Then put all his spare money into buying elixirs. Get Khana and Baby Darius up to a decent level of body enhancement. And disappear. Cultivate chaos away from other Xian until he is lord level."

Hector listened to everything Matthias said and still had trouble understanding what was happening. Was this man really making Volithur fan fiction?

"So what is your point of departure? How would you fix the tragic life of Volithur?"

"I would either change everything or nothing," Hector said.

"How enigmatic. Please explain." Matthias took another sip of tea.

Hector shrugged. "The main problem of Volithur wasn't a specific decision. It was a lack of character. He was hateful and obsessed with revenge and uncharitable towards his loved ones."

Matthias tilted his head. "I will concede that Volithur was not a man to admire. His life ended in quite a disaster. The point of the game is to avoid that disaster in such a way to maximize the benefit. But you seem to believe Volithur would not be able to overcome the root of his problems. I can't say that you're wrong there, even if it ruins the game. So you would change everything or nothing because Volithur was the agent of his own demise."

Hector stared out the window. "I would change everything because he wasn't a good man. And I would change nothing because he played a very important role in the way things turned out."

"True. We wouldn't receive his insight if things turned out differently."

"More than that," Hector said. "There was a massive monster invasion on Tian. It happened at the Amarat capital while Thrakkar was wining and dining elite recruits to replace those killed due to Volithur's betrayal. The Lord General brought multiple armies to fight off the invasion. According to him, the nation of Amarat only stands because Volithur's actions led to him being there that day."

Matthias stared at Hector. "According to him? Has the Lord General been giving interviews?"

"He told me in person."

"In person. By that you mean Thrakkar Shaocheth spoke to you – you as in Hector."

"Yeah."

"How?"

"I had to find help for my world. There was a monster invasion we couldn't handle. So I traveled until I ran into the Coalition Army."

Matthias interrupted abruptly. "You were traveling at level five?"

"Four, actually. I had zero body enhancement or mental enhancement. I had to ball myself up just to fit inside my transit sphere and most of the time it popped before I could fully retract it at my destination. It was touch and go every time. But I made it. The Sage of Persuasion, the Sage of Conflagration, War Barge Kevin, and the Lord General followed me home and made stopping the deadly monster invasion look like child's play."

"And you talked to him?"

Hector laughed. "Yeah. We both raised our voices at some point. I actually corrected him when he started using the 'Harridan' name."

Matthias shook his head. "I'm not sure I believe this. It's too incredible."

"Wait until you hear this. Thrakkar gave me Volithur's vial."

"Volithur's vial? What does that mean? Oh! Oh, no. You… you drank his platinum elixir?"

Hector's smile faded. "I did. It took me from no body enhancement to the peak of four in just a few minutes. Better someone who understood Volithur drink it than some pampered noble."

"It sounds like you had quite the adventure," Matthias said.

Esther smirked over her cup. "He also attended one of the tournaments on Tian."

Matthias frowned. "You're the first I have ever heard of returning from one of those."

"That's because the Lord Platinum hosts the tournament."

"How horrifying," Matthias muttered, immediately grasping the implication. "You traveled away as soon as you grasped the purpose of the tournament?"

"It wasn't nearly so easy as that. We were suppressed by Platinum most of the time. When we weren't, there were guards stronger than our level watching us." Hector shivered as he thought back to the tense atmosphere. "I took advantage of their resources until a particularly exciting match distracted everyone, then escaped with a friend."

Matthias pressed his hand to his chest. "Hector, I have never consumed a single resource in my life. I'm at level eight now with all of my apertures keeping pace with my advancements. You have no reason to ever risk yourself for their elixirs."

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Hector sighed. "Yeah, you're right. They were force feeding us uncut spirits, wood ashes, and lime water alongside actual elixirs."

Esther choked on her tea, sending a spray of mist over the tea tray. "Sorry about that. But when you say lime water, you're not talking about water with lime juice?"

"I understand it was made from limestone."

"That's incredibly unhealthy. All of it. They were fattening you up to become a resource with no concern for your health."

Matthias shook his head. "Have you had any other adventures?"

"He's a dungeon delver," Esther provided.

"I am horrified by your cavalier risk-taking, Hector. You have the insight. You live within the relative safety of Union Central. Nothing prevents you from cultivating chaos in obscurity until you reach the top. You can make easy money as a porter. In fact, once you reach level six, I will subcontract some of my deliveries to you."

Hector dipped his head in acknowledgment of the gesture. "I appreciate your offer. It is going to take me a while to fully saturate, though. I will continue with the dungeon runs until then."

"Take time to saturate?" Matthias leaned forward. "We're much faster than our peers, Hector. I think it's the purity of the cosmic energy we work with. Don't you remember how fast Volithur reached level five and then level six? He didn't need to wait long. Neither do we. Though, of course, the advice of the experts has always been to train all apertures to the peak prior to advancing."

Hector made a gesture.

Survey Results

Type: Xian

Level: 5

Body: 5

Mind: 4.4

Aura: 3.3

Domain: 2.9

Energy Reserves: 52%

"I need to improve my aura and domain before I advance," Hector said. He didn't comment on the obvious flaw he saw in Matthias' approach. There was no doubt the man was doing an excellent job growing stronger. However, Hector didn't understand how someone could experience the pointless life and death of Volithur and then decide to live only for their own benefit. Wasn't that the greatest lesson to be had from their shared dreams? That life without a grander purpose was a bottomless pit of nihilism?

More than that, Hector questioned whether the strength of Matthias would ever translate into combat prowess. Not being a hollow spear was more than training apertures, he'd come to understand. There were skills and mindsets that had to be developed. Walking onto a battlefield for the first time as a lord seemed like an entirely different breed of foolishness. How did a level ten individual learn to fight when threats on their level were so few – and also likely to be extremely experienced in violence?

Matthias confirmed those intuitions were accurate in the next instant. "You should never seek out danger. Not even by entering the dungeons."

Hector thought back to Conrad's campaign to keep the people of uncountable worlds safe by eliminating monsters within the dungeon. That was fundamentally moral behavior. The stance of Matthias struck him as selfish and cowardly.

"I understand your position, Matthias. But I believe I'm doing good inside the dungeon."

Esther snickered. "In case you couldn't tell from his stories, Matthias, this guy is an adrenaline junkie. He's not going to patiently cultivate sixteen hours a day like you."

"I sometimes wonder if I'm the only heir of Volithur who truly learned the lesson of his life," Matthias lamented. "The risks are unnecessary for us. Anyway. Are you moving to Tian Tower?"

"He has two friends who would come with him. I told him you might be willing to offer a discount," Esther said.

"Of course you did." Matthias shared a look with Hector. "I bought the building, but Esther somehow ends up making all the decisions around here."

"A discounted room earns you more than an unrented room," Esther countered.

"We're talking about three rooms," Matthias said.

"You're short this month for the amount you are contracted to give to the construction corporation for the profit sharing split. Are you paying out of pocket again?"

Matthias scrubbed his face. "I'm not discounting the large rooms. Those will eventually sell. Do you want small rooms or a shared cubby room?"

"Small room."

"Those are being sold for six hundred credits a day. I'll let you have them for five fifty."

Hector hesitated, causing Esther to interject her opinion. "It's a good value. There are similar sized rooms that go for less in Promise City, but the quality is worse. A single delve a month will cover your housing costs. And Riley really wants to work at my cafe."

Matthias chuckled. "It's far more entertaining when she harasses you than me."

"Make sure we are all on the same floor," Hector said.

Esther clapped her hands. "Another commission for me!"

"I'm reducing that commission by ten percent because you insisted on a discount."

"A discounted commission is better than no commission," Esther said. "Give me a few minutes to get the formal tenant contract in place. You can join your friends in the lounge. Or better yet grab your possessions so you can move in."

Hector sighed. "We are still paid up for two more days at our current home."

"And this is the night of the week we do group aura training in the basement. You're not going to miss out on that because you want to be cheap, are you?"

"I suspect you get your way a lot," Hector observed.

She smirked at him. "As often as I can."

Hector found his friends playing cards in the lounge with an older man who was barely level three and had next to no body enhancement. The old guy was regaling them with some tale as Hector approached. "So they shut down the company. Said it was a pyramid scheme. Which it wasn't. That's a whole different kind of fraud. I was laundering mob money and doing shady accounting. My members all got their return on investment up until the point they shut things down.

"Then the mob all of a sudden wanted to get their assets back. Too bad, right? Feds froze everything in the accounts. So I hire Matthias to port me over to Union Central with purified lithium I stashed away for a rainy day. That bought me a ten year lease on a suite in this building. I've been working for an advertising firm to pay my other expenses. That should keep me in style until I expire of old age."

Riley noticed Hector and jumped up. "Did you get a good deal?"

"Five hundred and fifty a day for small rooms."

The old man whistled. "You get on the good side of Matthias or something?"

"They had the same dreams," Riley explained.

"Dreams." The old man snorted. "Do you know what insight I received from my dreams? How to stab with a spear. There's no use for that kind of knowledge in my life. They weren't even fun dreams. My counterpart was constantly scamming lords and then having to change his name when he moved. No big surprise when those games got the fool killed."

Just then the contract prompt popped up before his eyes. Hector studied it and accepted. Beside him, Riley waved for him to lean closer so she could whisper something. He predicted her request and beat her to it. "I'll help with your rent if you need it. Now let's get our stuff. There is some aura training tonight I don't want to miss."

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